About

Welcome to Our Fertile Family! This page was created as a place for those who are experiencing infertility to come for support and information. This page is also to support those experiencing miscarriage, later term loss, stillbirth,  infant loss, and pregnancy after loss.

Since beginning our journey in 2012, my husband and I have experienced all the ups and downs of being on the infertility roller coaster. We hope our experience can provide hope and inspiration to those looking for the light at the end of the infertility tunnel. 

Our Journey

 June 2012

Hubby & I married and began trying for babies right away!

We had no clue about infertility...

January 2013

After 6 months of trying naturally & tracking my cycle,

 I made an appointment with the OB to see what the problem was. 

The OB told me to keep trying and that it is normal for a healthy couple 

our age to take up to a year to conceive (WRONG!). 

April 2013

We tried for a few more months, but our patience was running thin! 

We were almost to the 1 year mark of trying naturally when I decided to switch OB's.

We switched and began treatments right away. The new OB prescribed Chlomid. 

We tried Chlomid for 3 cycles with no luck.

May 2013- September 2013

After being on Chlomid for 3 cycles and not conceiving naturally, 

my OB decided it was time to try IUI. 

We did 3 IUI's with the OB while on Chlomid. 

All IUI's were unsuccessful. We found I was a low responder to Chlomid.

The OB then referred us to a Reproductive Endocrinologist. 

November 2013

We had our first appointment with a Reproductive Endocrinologist (fertility doctor).

This doctor suggested we try one more IUI with close monitoring

and injectable hormones (follistim + trigger). 

After doing 3 IUI's back- to - back, we were very anxious for this one to work!

Unfortunately, it was not successful. 

At this point we needed a break!

December 2013- February 2014

During this time we took a break from trying to have a baby. 

We just enjoyed the holidays, relaxed, and recovered. 

February 2014- July 2014

After doing some research and exploring different ways to improve fertility, 

I became a patient at a naturopathic doctor. 

This doctor focused on healing the body through nutrition and supplementation. 

I had already been taking a lot of vitamins and supplements, but my diet was all wrong!

I spent the this time changing my diet and heavily supplementing to get my body back on track. 

I became gluten and dairy free (mostly) and focused on eating whole, healthy foods.

I told myself I would give this route 6 months and if I still wasn't pregnant, 

I would move on to IVF.

At the end of the 6 month "cleanse" I still wasn't pregnant!

We felt it was the right time to try IVF.

August 2014

After spending 6 months in the care of a naturopath, 

doing IVF and taking so many new hormones seemed like a scary idea to me.

Even though I was afraid, we moved forward with the procedure anyway. 

We went back to the original Reproductive Endocrinologist who did our last IUI.

Our IVF cycle alone had many ups and downs. The doctor wasn't able to collect as many eggs

as he thought he could and after being fertilized, only 2 embryos survived!

By transfer day, there was only one left..

ONLY ONE!

We were so sad to think about if it didn't work and having to do another cycle but...

we didn't have to because...

FINALLY!

After our first IVF cycle, we were pregnant!!

August 2014- May 2015

My first pregnancy was absolutely amazing. 

I felt great! My husband and I were so happy to be expecting our first child. 

Every day was full of joy and there were no complications with the pregnancy. 

Until...

At 41 weeks gestation (only a day away from being induced), 

I woke up in the middle of the night and something didn't feel right. 

We went to the hospital and our fears were confirmed that our beautiful daughter,

who we loved SO much,

had passed away. 

Her heart stopped beating and she died of "unknown causes."

After she was born, the placenta was analyzed and found to be small

and possibly insufficient, but there was no true known cause. 

We were devastated. Our world came tumbling down that day...

Penelope Grace

6 lbs. 4 oz. 20 1/2 inches

Born May 25 2015 at 5:33am

Our Angel

June 2015-April 2016

We spent the year following our daughter's death grieving, healing, 

and just trying to make sense of life without her. 

All the while, we were trying naturally to conceive hoping that maybe

since my body had experienced a full term pregnancy that I would get pregnant naturally. 

No luck.

This year was the hardest year of my life- having to keep pushing, 

keep trying for something we want so badly in the midst of grief. 

May 2016

We finally felt, after a year of recovering, that it was time to try IVF again. 

We visited the same Reproductive Endocrinologist we used in the past. 

We did a different medication protocol this time and we were able to collect 

more eggs than the first IVF cycle!

After the eggs were fertilized and matured, we ended up with 3. 

This time, we did PGS and found that 1 embryo was genetically abnormal. 

3 - 1 = 2 perfect embryos!

That May, we transferred one of the embryos and decided to freeze the other. 

June 2016

Unfortunately, one week after the embryo transfer, I started bleeding heavy

like a period. I knew the cycle did not work, but the doctors urged me to come in 

for a pregnancy test any. To my surprise, the pregnancy test was POSITIVE!

My husband and I were baffled and we were told to come back in a few days and test again.

The second pregnancy test showed my HCG levels had dropped 

and this was called a "chemical pregnancy."

June 2016-September 2016

Another loss was almost too much to bear, but we kept on.

We decided to take a break during the summer and just enjoy our lives.

We told ourselves we would revisit IVF in the fall, 

but only under two conditions:

1) Getting a second opinion from another doctor

2) Start exploring adoption

October 2016

We found a new doctor that we fell in love with. 

We set up a plan for a Frozen Embryo Transfer. This was my first FET.

With a lot of hope & prayer, 

we became pregnant with our RAINBOW baby during this frozen cycle!

November 2016- April 2017

I am currently 24 weeks pregnant with our 

RAINBOW BABY GIRL!

So far, everything with the pregnancy is going well. 

Pregnancy after loss is not for the faint of heart, but we are hopeful.

We are with a high risk OB team at a major local hospital. 

We have ultrasounds every other week until 32 weeks.

At 32 weeks, we will have twice weekly ultrasounds & NSTs. 

We named this sweet baby girl

Charlotte Grace.

We love her so much already.

She is scheduled to enter this world on 

July 23 2017. 

Follow our journey over the rainbow...

All the love,
Allie